DoingTheCaveman

Oh what a year.

Has it been obvious I've been flagging of late.  I see my consultant on Tuesday and I think the thought of this has caused made me to struggle over the last couple of weeks, quietly sabotaging myself.  So instead of writing a load of c**p I read through my previous posts in order to remind myself why I'm observing this way of eating (WOE), and indeed the desperate point I came from.

The last year has been a journey I'd never expected, not only the weight-loss and my attitudes to food but also where I see myself going with life in general.

It has been an evolving process and there have been a few painful steps too.

# One :  Quite simply indignation that a doctor, who I'd never met before, was making assumptions, stereotyping and accusing me of seeking for a magic pill for weight-loss.

# Two : The anger and indignation snapped me out of my apathy, and possibly depression.

I knew, from being a fatigued lifetime dieter, that other dieting models didn't work for me.  When I wasn't overeating from the frustration of repeated failures I was eating a 'normal SUKD. When I saw my consultant I was just eating the reduced diet I'd been advised, so was fuming at his disbelief.  I left the consultant determined to prove him wrong, but what was I to do.  I felt that the only way left to me for weight loss was to completely stop eating! So for the first few days this is what I did.

# Three :  It was perfectly timed that following the week of *that* humiliating hospital appointment I should run into the paleo diet and the concept made simple sense to me.  I/we were getting fat because we were eating in a way that biologically we weren't designed for.  In other words, accepted 'normal' healthy eating was false and I was simply eating way more than my body required.

A lesson I've learnt over the past year is that there is something intrinsically wrong with the food pyramid and the advice provided doesn't necessarily come from health sources.  If you make a worldwide comparison, you can see that that but every country has its own food pyramid. Surely, the fact that there are so many variations highlights the fact that we are confused about what we should be eating.

# Four :  I started to eat paleo and my blood sugar readings normalised within a couple of weeks and the weight loss followed. 

# Five : As far as I could see, with the success so far, it was down the the chemical overload I/we were eating.  I went on a literature rampage, not difficult when you work in a university library - my appetite for periodicals and food related books became bigger than my appetite for food.  I was very, very annoyed - I'd been poisoned, manipulated by the food industry. I felt like a pawn in a mass conspiracy, a £ on legs.  I could have blogged (ranted) more, but for life getting in the way.

# Six :  Next I became a little over zealous and recruited myself into the food police.  I'd got my ship in order, but now everyone around me were, like madmen, munching questionable food, and boy my immediate family were in for a hard time :)

# Seven :  I've entered another phase now - a quite phase. I'm settling into this WOE and I'm still blogging and recording my progress and probably will be ranting some more, but offline I'm not advertising my diet as much and instead just getting quietly on with it.  It's easier to say that I'm gluten/dairy intolerant in social situations, but if I'm asked how I'm losing the weight paleo will get the credit.

This WOE though has opened up some new interests and lifestyle (basically naturapathy Vs allopathy, herbalism, permaculture and raw foodism etc). Last year I would have considered it all a little too alternative, despite being a Brightonian! 

So anyway when this post started it it was only meant to be a few short paragraphs to let you know that I was going to have a blog tidy up.  Refresh my own memory as to why as to why I'm on this journey and the posts that I consider to be the most representative of it in the sidebar. 

I know I have to step it up if I'm to shift my weight any further and for the next year, that of course has to be exercise.  I sometimes have to remind myself that, for me, it's not simply about weight loss, it's the fact that a year ago I did have the threat of insulin looming over me and that's (hopefully) a mere memory.  My journey is one about fighting a common and modern disease by stepping back in time.

RAW at the Earthship

Can you take me to the Earthship? 

Yes the driver did do a double take when I stepped into his taxi and gave this instruction on Saturday.

Time to come out. 

If you didn't realise my post last week nature is bountiful post was related to raw foodism and the fact that it has over the last 6 months become a significant element of my own paleo diet.

Indeed, it's becoming a dilemma as to which direction I'm ultimately going to take myself since, generally, those practising raw foodism tend to be raw vegans/vegetarians, whereas 'the paleo diet' has its obvious meat content.  There is, however, quite a bit of crossover such as foraging, not eating man made foods and, whilst foods on the 'paleo' menu food can be cooked, anything consumed should be edible even when raw.  So, you can see how surfing the web led me to the delights of raw foodism, and it was hard for me to ignore. 

The discovery excited me with its plethora of raw food recipes that take you out of the little cooked food box eg. how to make a cake without butter, sugar dairy or flour.

Although often viewed as quite an extreme and alternative lifestyle raw foodism, for me, is another cuisine, like French, Italian or Chinese.  Simply another way to manipulate food and extension to my diet of natural foods. 

A bonus for me is that living near Brighton, which has been the stomping ground for most of my life, I'm actually near the City which has been adopted as the raw food capital of the UK, and I didn't know.

So anyway to take my raw food 'uncooking' to the next level I'd booked up for a raw workshop to be held on Saturday which was unfortunately cancelled a couple of days before the event.  A little deflated, my motivation flagging and needing a boost I researched and quickly  found another workshop and was fortunate to book into it at the last minute.  This was led by one of the leading UK raw food promoters Jess Michael, and held at the exciting venue 'the Earthship'.

What an inspiring day in a fantastic setting with an absolutely delicious meal and tasters, expertly demonstrated by Jess.  Jess was vibrant and simply radiated good health.  Interesting to note that she'd originally come to raw foodism through illness, you certainly wouldn't know that now.

I walked up to the venue with a lady who's been practising raw foodism for a couple of years now.  She told me that her mother had been morbidly obese for most of her life but had been juice feasting since January and had lost 6 stone. The raw food fast and feasting reportedly can really speed up weight loss. My experience over the last few months is that when I've been predominently raw my weight loss has stopped and stabilised, although I may have been going about aspects the wrong way.  However, when I've been doing 'strict caveman' I've lost weight has returned, probably through the ketosis.  My taste preferences though I must admit are veg/raw.  I am convinced about the benefits of enzymes and vitamins by eating predominently raw, however I have been for a long time convinced about the protein/fat element in my paleo diet.

So where am I going with raw/paleo now. I'm not sure at this moment in time.   When did man discover fire?

As I travelled home a very young lamb was dashing across the field and I looked at his little face and thought to myself I don't think I can eat you anymore.

No decision to be made quite yet but raw food is here to stay.

I guess I still need a little practice with my photography skills!